How do I practice? I just do triplets up and down the scale, I think the pentatonic scale. I dont have scales memorized but I can hear if its the right one for any given piece of music by listening.

My pinky is not very usable and no matter how much I do it, it doesnt get any easier. Im always missing notes muteing strings and cant seem to overcome this. in other words I cannot play an entire song without mistakes.

And did anyone have any input on my question about the pro's ever taking lessons? thanks to all for replying.

I will second that A good teacher can not/will not impead your progress. Finding a good one will take some effort but the payoff is progress and focus. Weak areas and correcting any bad habits you might have picked up will be worth every penny.

Love to make that music,as well I love to tweak,Make my own sample sets

Greg, where do you live? You know, when I first started out on electric guitar, I used to go up and watch local bands and ask the guitarists how they learned. They seemed to think it a very odd question. Many tried to just play along with records. That is a great way to pick up thing.

I went out and bought a chord chart book first. Then I bought some books with guitar chords over the music score, and I practiced that. Then I started to practice leads from memory and later against records (yes, vinyl records!).

Back then, guitar teaching books were pretty lousy. Now, there are some excellent ones. I'll post some of them in a bit. There is a website where a guy has a really nice comprehensive teaching book for the guitar. It's excellent and affordable.

For me, I got a teacher and it was wasted money at first. It's better to work out the basics alone, then pay for a teacher when you are starting to get good and really want to know what you are doing. A good teacher that couples music theory with having fun is the best combination. You want to learn different scales, eventually alternative tunings, lead techniques, harmonies and jazz chords, improvozation, etc. It goes as far as you want to take it.

I guess for a beginner, you want to learn moveable chords, simple chord progressions, and then how to play scales over those chords.

Thanks to all for replies. Im 48 years old now, and I got my first guit when I was 16 for xmass. It was a tiesco kmart special. I quickly learned that I could put on the alice cooper love it to death album and match up tones on the guitar with the sound on the "album". I took "some" lessons from a guy named Roy Kessleer who's brother played with Tommy James you know and the shondells (if thats how its spelled. by the time I was about 18 I was jamming along with war pigs in the basement, and other rock of the time. To my friends it sounded just like the guitar on the album, but of course I know I was just getting pretty close. I will take some more lessons maybe the right one can teach me how to overcome my shortcomings. Oh and by the way I live in belleville mi. I hang out in westland alot. all of this is midway between detroit and ann arbor.

Actually, many of the guitar greats were self-taught. It's surprising how many of them knew very little music theory. A lot of them couldn't read sheet music. I've heard this in many interviews of the various greats.

Typically, a sweeping black and white statement, but incorrect. I don't believe that Stevie Ray Vaughan took lessons. I believe it was stated in a bio documentary that he learned from playing against records and just noodling in his teen years. He got good very quickly. I don't think Hendrix took lessons either, but I'm not 100% certain on that. David Gilmour, I believe he was a guitar teacher at the time of entering Pink Floyd, but how he learned, I don't know. Now the backing guitarist for the Grateful Dead came into that group from taking lessons. Shows lessons might not be a very good thing given that example!

Typically, a sweeping black and white statement, but incorrect. I don't believe that Stevie Ray Vaughan took lessons. I believe it was stated in a bio documentary that he learned from playing against records and just noodling in his teen years. He got good very quickly. I don't think Hendrix took lessons either, but I'm not 100% certain on that. David Gilmour, I believe he was a guitar teacher at the time of entering Pink Floyd, but how he learned, I don't know. Now the backing guitarist for the Grateful Dead came into that group from taking lessons. Shows lessons might not be a very good thing given that example!

Stevie Ray Vaughan did recieve guitar instruction as did Hendrix. Haven't studied Gilmour so I won't speak to how he learned to play guitar.

It's the timing, if they did get lessons. If they did, it was later, after they had already made a name for themselves. A lot of guitarists are self-taught. I've played with many that were. It was rare that anyone I knew took lessons. These aren't guitar greats but they are excellent guitarists all the same.